James (Never Change)
by Major Trouble
Summary: "You can laugh but in the end now, everybody's on a date with my buddy James. And everybody knows his name. He's driving everybody insane! They wanna be like James." The Marauders watch James grow up during 5th year. Songfic.


**A/N: Song is James (Never Change) by Allstar Weekend, came up on Pandora and I kept thinking of James Potter, so I had to jot some stuff down. Hope you enjoy it ^_^**

**Disclaimer: Lyrics belong to Allstar Weekend, characters/setting etc to JK Rowling, idea is mine.**

_(Hi James)_

_Known ya since we were younger_  
><em>And even now that we're older<em>  
><em>You're still a kid so curious<em>  
><em>Who's peeking over my shoulder.<em>

"Yes, Prongs?" Remus asked, vague amusement coloring his voice as he watched James out of the corner of his eye. His fellow Marauder had both hands on Remus's right shoulder as he peered down at the book on the table in front of them.

"What is this?" he asked, something almost like awe creeping into his voice. The book had horribly graphic illustrations of rather disgusting effects of the potions outlined in it.

Remus flipped the book shut. "Moste Potente Potions," he answered, showing James the cover. "Slughorn lent it to me, thought I might like a look at it. It really is quite interesting." He slid the thick book off the table and stowed it away in his backpack. James looked at him skeptically. "Just because I'm not very good at the practical part of potions doesn't mean the theory doesn't interest me," Remus continued with a shrug.

"I was looking at it earlier," Sirius piped up. He was laying in the next armchair over, legs dangling over the arm and hands folded behind his head. There was a conspicuous lack of textbooks around him. "Best keep up the good behavior, James, or you might find a Laxative Potion slipped into your pumpkin juice!" Peter, doing homework on the floor in front of Sirius's chair, laughed.

James' balked at the thought and pulled his hand back from where he'd been trying to sneak into Remus's bag. "Uh, but that might keep me out of class. Right? Remus wouldn't do that." But for once, the handsome Quidditch player neither looked nor sounded confident. He ran a hand through his hair, nonplussed by his companions' knowing grins and lack of response. "Okay, well, um, I had better get my bag. I have homework to get done." Prongs turned and nearly sprinted back upstairs, the other Marauders laughing behind him.

_You always drift around.  
>You never let me down.<br>I trust that you'll be yourself.  
>Don't act like you're no one else.<em>

The Marauders lay on their backs in the snow, laughing at the memory of Snape's face, his hair dripping wet from the many snowballs they'd pelted him with when he had the misfortune of walking past them during break. "I swear, he was going to melt the snow right out of his hair, he was so mad," Peter giggled.

"He... he really... I mean, _really_," James choked out, unable to stop laughing long enough to form a sentence.

Sirius, only slightly more composed, caught his breath and finished Prongs' sentence for him. "Needed a shower."

Remus was clearly trying not to laugh, but wasn't having much success. Eventually he gave in, snorting loudly. Snape had looked quite ridiculous, fuming and covered in glittery white powder.

Muffled by the snow, none of the boys heard the approach of another student. Indeed, they were unaware of her presence until a large amount of snow was unceremoniously dumped on their faces. Coughing and spluttering, they jolted upright, spinning around to see their attacker. James leapt to his feet, hand jumping to ruffle his hair.

"Leave him alone, Potter!" Lily Evans snarled, glowering.

"Who, Snivellus?" James asked, holding back a shiver as a bit of snow found its way down his collar. Remus shifted his feet awkwardly; it had not been his idea to bombard Snape, but he had not exactly objected - nor had he refused to participate. He was uncomfortably aware of the Prefect badge pinned to his robes. "Aww, c'mon, Evans, it was just some snow."

Peter nodded vigorously. "Just some snow!"

Sirius let out a small snort. "He needed a shower, we were just trying to help him out."

Against their wills, all four boys collapsed into a fit of giggles. Lily huffed and stormed off, yelling back over her shoulder at them. There were definitely some swear words involved.

"Y'know, James," Remus said as they walked back into the castle. "if you just acted like you do around us - when no one else is around, I mean, especially Snape - she might not hate you so much. But you try to be all suave when she's around; makes you look kind of stupid."

Sirius gave Remus a look that clearly said he thought the werewolf was wasting his time. Sure enough, James rolled his eyes, hand in his hair again, apparently unconsciously. "Right, because I'm interesting when I'm not doing anything fun," he kidded, giving Moony a light shove. "Come on, let's go change, she got snow down my shirt."

_You can be a space case.  
>But you do it your own way.<br>There's a strange sincerity  
>That makes them girls go crazy.<br>Maybe it don't make sense.  
>You don't have to understand.<br>_

"Um, excuse me? Could I get your help with something?" James' voice floated over to the armchairs by the fire, where the Marauders sat with smirks on their faces. "I was wondering if you'd be willing to help me out with my Transfiguration homework? I just had a couple questions, and my friends" - here he paused to throw a glare at Remus - "refuse to help me."

The seventh-year girl looked skeptical but moved over so he could sit next to her. The three by the fire shared grins. James was brilliant at Transfiguration and certainly didn't need anyone's help with his homework. But he had tried this same trick several times before, and it had worked every time so far. The sincere interest he showed in the work and getting the right answers, and why it was right, and why this other answer was wrong, and how this that or the other thing worked, drew the girls in and so far he'd gotten at least a kiss from each girl he'd asked for help. They never did figure out that he was a much better student of Transfiguration than they were.

"How come I've never tried that?" Sirius asked.

"Because you just have to become a dog and get your ears scratched to get attention?" Peter suggested. Sirius's eyes widened and a grin split his face.

"NO!" Remus exclaimed, too loudly. Half the common room turned to stare. He lowered his voice. "Peter, don't suggest that! He'll blow his cover. He'll mess things up for all of us, we'd get in so much trouble." He looked back over at James and found that neither he nor his 'tutor' had paid any attention to Remus's small outburst; they were much too busy studying each other to notice. Every time...

_James! Doesn't try still attracts the babes!  
>All the guys say he's got no game!<br>You can laugh but in the end now  
>Everybody's on a date with my buddy James.<br>And everybody knows his name.  
>He's driving everybody insane!<br>They wanna be like James._

When Sirius walked into the common room one morning (that is to say, one in the afternoon the night after the full moon), he found half of Gryffindor House laughing as a girl pelted James with bits of paper and textbooks and a half-full inkwell. The last he dodged successfully, and it smacked an unfortunate second-year girl in the leg, splattering her robes with bright green ink. As she burst into tears, Sirius knelt next to her and used his wand to siphon the wet ink off her. He repaired the ink bottle and it put it on a nearby table, then took a bar Honeydukes chocolate from his pocket, broke a piece off, and gave it to her with a tired grin. She stared, wide-eyed, but took the candy and scurried back up to the girls' dormitories.

"He can't get anyone," Sirius heard a fourth year mutter to his friend. "You'd think he'd stop trying at some point."

_No, he gets everyone,_ Padfoot thought, watching James as his friend sheepishly tried to defend himself. "We weren't dating, I mean you could've kissed Sirius if you'd wanted to, it's not a big deal..." _He just can't keep them._

Someone brushed by and stalked to the portrait hole, clambering out of it with several books tucked under one arm. _Okay, not everyone,_ Sirius amended as he watched the red-head leave.

Remus, who had been sitting on a couch near James, sidled up to Sirius, hands in his pockets. He nodded towards the corner. "He's got a fanclub."

Even as a girl stood in the middle of the common room throwing everything she could reach at him, a pack of fourth-years in the corner were watching James with renewed interest. "You'd think they'd be over him by now," Peter commented, having appeared over Sirius's shoulder. "How come I can't get their attention?"

The boys all knew Peter had a crush on the blond one with the glasses, but she didn't seem to realize he existed, always batting her eyelashes at James. Even now.

_You're talking to a lady.  
>It's awkward entertainment.<br>Freeze up like a popsicle  
>Then melting on the pavement.<br>It's not the clothes you wear.  
>You don't have to dye that hair.<br>No need to go for new.  
>You should just stick with you.<br>Always been the nice guy  
>Living on the side lines.<br>So afraid to take a chance  
>So step into the lime light.<br>People like underdogs.  
>Someone worth fighting for.<br>_

Remus leaned against the wall, watching James and Sirius on the dance floor. Neither was particularly good at ballroom dancing, but their enthusiasm and good looks were apparently good enough to keep their dates glued to their sides the whole night. Peter had gone off to get a drink, hoping to run into the fourth-year he liked, whom he'd heard had come without a date; Remus had asked no one.

Sighing, Moony stuck his hands in his pockets. Sometimes, he wished he could be more like Sirius or James. Whole, for one. Untainted. But he doubted that, even if he were normal, he would have their confidence (_no, cockiness_, he amended), their ability to take everything in stride.

"Hi," a small voice said. Remus jumped, turning to face the Ravenclaw who had approached him.

He gulped. "Hi."

"Remus, right? Remus Lupin?"

The werewolf nodded mutely, pulling a hand out of his pocket and running it through his hair. When he realized what he'd done, he quickly stuffed it back into his pocket and leaned against the wall. The girl giggled. "Helen," she introduced herself, having taken Remus's silence to mean he did not know her. "We're in - "

"Transfiguration, right. And Ancient Runes. Sorry, you just, er, took me by surprise," he answered awkwardly.

Helen followed his eyes out to the dance floor, where he was still watching Padfoot and Prongs. "They're your mates, right?" she asked, gesturing. He nodded. "How come they didn't try to help you get a date? Isn't that what mates are for? I mean, I know she" - she pointed at the Gryffindor Sirius was currently spinning in circles - "has a younger sister who would have loved to come with you."

"Marlene has a sister?" he asked, watching the blond and Sirius chat animatedly with James and his Hufflepuff date. Remus didn't see it, but Helen rolled her eyes.

"Yes, she does. She's in your year, about my height, she's in Ravenclaw..."

Remus looked down at the Ravenclaw next to him and blinked. She raised her eyebrows. "Oh! You're her sister?" he realized belatedly. Having never spoken to her, he'd quite forgotten the girl's name was Helen McKinnon. Helen rolled her eyes, nodding. Remus gulped and looked away as he remembered what else she had said. "Uh," he started, scuffing the ground with his shoe. "Uh, would... would you, er, like to... uh, do you wanna dance with me?" _James or Sirius would've managed that without the pathetic stuttering._

Helen giggled, grabbed his hand, and led Remus out of the shadows and onto the dance floor.

_James! Doesn't try still attracts the babes!  
>All the guys say he's got no game!<br>You can laugh but in the end now  
>Everybody's on a date with my buddy James.<br>And everybody knows his name.  
>He's driving everybody insane!<br>They wanna be like James.  
><em>

"You know it's still March, right?"

"I can read a calendar, Moony," James joked, dropping his bag on the wet grass. "Besides, it'll be April next week!"

Whatever month, it was a wet and rather gloomy one. It had been raining all week, washing away the last of the snow from the grounds. They hadn't seen the sun since Tuesday, when it peeked through the clouds for a brilliant but brief sunset. Sighing, Remus leaned against the beech tree near the lake's edge and crossed his arms, watching as both James and Sirius took off their shoes and socks, then their pointed black hats and robes, and dropped it all in a pile with their bags. They were left standing barefoot in the wet grass, wearing nothing more than swim trunks. James visibly tensed as through suppressing a shiver, but Sirius took off for the water and dove in gracefully. There came a chorus of gasps from somewhere behind the boys.

"This was your idea," Remus reminded Prongs. James nodded, gulped, and ran for the water. In stark contrast to Padfoot, he plowed right in until finally he could run no further, and just sort of fell face-first into the water. Again, the girls lurking behind the Marauders gasped.

Watching, Peter gulped and began to untie his shoes. Moony raised an eyebrow. "Wormtail..." The smaller boy looked up to see Remus shake his head. "You don't need to follow them to get their acceptance, and if the only reason those girls flirt with you is because you jumped into the lake in March, they're not the right girls for you anyway." Peter's eyes grew wide in relief as the truth of the words washed over him, and he hastily retied his shoe and stood up, adopting a casual posture against the tree.

The boys in the lake were racing now; Sirius was in a relaxed backstroke and James a slightly jittery breaststroke. He seemed to have decided to stay as submerged as possible as long as possible, and didn't come up for air very often. This seemed to be working against him, as Sirius was quickly out-pacing him, and reached the far bank several seconds before James did.

They swam for ten or fifteen minutes. James, Remus could tell, was more comfortable the longer they were in there, but he suspected that was because he'd gone quite numb. When finally they emerged from the water, James was shivering violently. The gaggle of girls ran up to the boys as they trekked back to Remus and Peter, asking if they were alright and, in one case, offering to help warm them up. Remus snorted and handed James a towel. "Now let's get you idiots back inside," he told them, picking up their clothes and handing them over.

Sirius grinned at him easily and donned his robes, using the hot air charm to dry himself and his clothes. He turned it on James next, and soon they were both dry and a bit warmer, not to mention clothed. The girls followed them back inside, but they shook the horde off by ducking into the nearest boys' bathroom.

"Why the _hell_ did you let me do that?" James asked. His teeth were still clattering.

In response, Sirius let out a short bark of laughter. "It was your idea, Prongs."

"Doesn't mean you had to let me do it," James muttered. "C'mon, let's go to the kitchens. I could use some soup."

_When you walk into a room,  
>Makin' everybody swoon.<br>So invincible.  
>The writing's on the wall (yea)<em>

When the boys walked back into the common room, James and Sirius were mobbed. Apparently, everyone who hadn't seen them out the window had heard about their swim from the girls. Some of the guys wanted to ask why Padfoot and Prongs hadn't invited them; most of the girls were talking about _brave_ they were, how _strong_ they must be.

On the other side of the room, Lily sat with her arms crossed, clearly irritated that several of her friends had rushed forward. Marlene, sitting across the table, looked faintly amused to see a seventh-year hanging onto Sirius's arm. That is, until Sirius grinned at her and threw an arm around her shoulders. Marlene's grin slid off her face, quickly replaced by a scowl. Remus elbowed Sirius hard in the side; the boy looked up, saw Marlene, and gently extracted himself from the group to make his way to her side.

Meanwhile, James was still entertaining his admirers with stories about the giant squid, messing up his hair continuously as he spoke. When he finally moved to an armchair by the fire, several girls crowded on the chairs and floor around him. Remus rolled his eyes and joined Lily, Marlene, and Sirius at their table, Peter hot on his heels. "Let's play chess, shall we? He may be a while."

_James! Doesn't try still attracts the babes!  
>All the guys say he's got no game!<br>You can laugh but in the end now  
>Everybody's on a date with my buddy James.<br>_

In the weeks after his rather popular swim, James found himself entertaining a different girl nearly every night for two weeks, including some he'd already considered himself done with. It didn't escape the other Marauders that the only girl in Gryffindor Tower who wasn't taken and didn't think she'd change James' womanizing ways was the only one he was truly interested in.

"Someday he might realize that if he just stopped trying to impress her, she might be interested," Remus sighed.

Peter raised his eyebrows. "James? Realize something? Something about _Lily_? Yeah, right," he finished with a laugh.

Remus shrugged, smiling tiredly. "I never said I suspected it would happen. Just that, y'know, technically there's a chance."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Maybe someday. If someone puts him under the Imperius Curse."

"That might make him act sensible," Peter agreed, "but it wouldn't make him realize that he should." The others conceded the point.

They watched as James made his way slowly over to their table, stopping every few feet to talk to another admirer. Sirius looked thoughtful. "It's weird, isn't it? He's sort of stopped trying. I mean, he's still taking them if they come to him, but he hasn't really gone after anyone for a while. Maybe... maybe you're right, Moony. Maybe he is growing up. A little. I mean, a tiny little bit, anyway."

_James! Doesn't try still attracts the babes!  
>All the guys say he's got no game!<br>You can laugh but in the end now  
>Everybody's on a date with my buddy James.<br>And everybody knows his name. (Ladies)  
>He's driving everybody insane!<br>They wanna be like James.  
><em>

"Moony, can I talk to you?"

Remus raised an eyebrow. "No, Prongs, you aren't allowed to talk to me." He watched the confusion hit his friend's face and snorted. "Since when do you need to ask for permission to talk to me?"

James sat down and grabbed the quill Remus had just discarded. Twirling it between the fingers of his left hand, his right played with his hair. "I don't know, really. I just... I dunno. I need some help," he finished, looking down at his lap. "Not like homework help. But I need help with something more than that. Like, something personal. Sort of. I guess what I'm saying is - "

"Sirius and Marlene have been dating for months; I don't have a girlfriend. Why are you asking me this?"

Startled, James' head shot up. "How did you know?" he asked, pained. "I hadn't even decided if I was going to ask yet!"

Remus couldn't help but laugh. "You're kidding, right?"

James hung his head again. "I mean, I just... I fucked up bad, y'know... with Snivellus the other day. That whole thing. I need to make her see... I need her to know who I really am, y'know? You told me, earlier this year, that if I could just... act like myself, if I were just like me when I'm with you guys, that she could see me. And then, well, maybe she'd like me, instead of hating me. Even if it's not like, that way. Just, as a friend. Right?"

"Well, I'm not sure I followed all that," Remus smirked. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "But if you're serious about this -"

"I am."

"- then start by calling her Lily."

_(That's my friend James)_


End file.
